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Punching in and out - me

Posted: Jan 02, 2013

How many of you actually punch in and out when there is work or no work availble?

Punching in and out - anon

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I work, when the work runs out I wait 15 mins to log out. I check back later, work if there is work, when it runs out I wait 15 mins and so on and so on.

Punching in and out - not waiting

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No way am I waiting 15 minutes to punch out when I have 1 or 2 jobs in my job list to do. I punch in when there are jobs to do, and I punch out when they're gone. Our status is based on LPH, correct? If I do 2 three-minute jobs in 15 minutes my line count drops to practially nothing. Nope, not waiting. I've been saving all the "accounts are low this morning, check back later" emails from my TSM. I could wait 15 minutes for work my whole shift and end up with a total of 15 jobs, at the most, and my line count goes down the tubes.

Not waiting either - No way

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When I run out of work I wait about 1 minute and if nothing comes in I punch out and then back in when there is work. I'm not going to indicate I'm working by staying punched in when I'm not through no fault of my own. I had a bunch of ins/outs today because there was very little work on 3 accounts for 3 hours that slowly trickled in.

I do. I have had up to 8 punches in a day. - anon

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xx

What they are asking us to do is illegal. - sm

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I punched in to my other job instead. When I run out of work at my second job I'll then check Nuance. If there is work I'll work until I get more work at my other job. I get paid 25% more at my second job, so it gets priority. I'm getting ready to leave Nuance, and I'm keeping all e-mails that tell me to clock out when I run out of work just in case I decide to file a complaint with somebody. I talked to a recruiter today and have had interviews outside the MT industry in the past 2 weeks.

Nuance is just no longer a priority for me. They have treated me very shabbily since my first day. They don't get to be my priority anymore, and when I walk, I talk.

illegal - seracohw

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What's illegal is getting paid for not producing. Production pay is totally different than hourly pay and has different rules/regulations.

Getting paid for something you are not doing is unethical and cheating, and screws it up for the rest of us.

imho, don't care if I get flamed. Tired of hearing people complain about getting paid for doing nothing. In a production/piece work based environment you have to produce to get paid.

I am totally confused by your post. What gave - you the idea that SM

[ In Reply To ..]
any MT is being paid when not producing? It is actually the opposite of that, many steps required to produce an accurate report are unpaid work. You are not paid for that 15-minute wait time, if that's what you think.

Seracohw -- Think it through - Ayn

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Your post makes no sense. Yes, getting paid to sit and do nothing is wrong. BUT, that is not what is happening in the production-based pay of MTs.

If you are sitting and waiting for work - you are not producing and, therefore, not getting paid while you sit. BUT, if you are clocked in, you are getting, in effect, docked for that time -- you are giving the MTSO 15 minutes of nothing. And, as another poster pointed out, those 15-minute lulls here and there add up over the days and weeks to a lot of dead, unpaid time you just spent on the clock waiting for work, not producing and, therefore, NOT getting paid.

When you work on production, you only earn money when you are typing - not when you are sitting and waiting for the next job to come in.

Think it through - seracohw

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YOU think it through! Good grief. I've worked both sides of the issue. If you stay clocked in past those 15 minutes doing nothing and get paid minimum wage for it, that is stealing, dishonest and unethical. Production and piecework is just that - you only get paid for what you produce.

Its been that way forever. Be glad they pay anything for those 15 minutes; MUP is better than nothing. When I worked for the evil Q now MM, you got squat if you had to wait!

As I said in another post, I'm happy here, DO MY JOB and get paid for it. Attitude has a lot to do with it.

You get out of life and work what you put into it. You can't pick and choose when you agree to do a job and sign the paperwork.

Sheesh!

Why do you keep saying this? No one gets - paid minimum wage SM

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for those 15 minutes of waiting for work. The 15-minute rule is the company's rule and they certainly are not going to make that rule while paying us for it.

Not talking about minimum wage - Ayn

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I was not talking about anyone getting paid minimum wage (or any other pay rate) while waiting for work.

I was referring to the many people at many different MTSOs who are asked to stay clocked in (making it appear that they are still "working" on their timesheet) while they wait for a job or two to trickle in. When you stay clocked in, that time goes under your "production time" even though you are not producing. I think that is what folks are upset about.

Or the MTSO asks the MT to "adjust" their timesheet after the fact to reflect how much time they actually worked and then possibly even ask the MT to "make up" the lost time - thereby being asked to either give up paid time or work outside their schedule.

I agree with you that if MTs are being paid in some form other than production (minimum wage, hourly rate, PTO, whatever) while staring at a blank job queue then yes, they are being paid to sit there and wait and that is a whole different ball of wax.

Why I should have to sit and be paid minimum wage/hourly rate or use my PTO due to the MTSO not providing me with enough work (and breaking their contract with me) -- thereby forcing me to take a pay cut for that time because my production rate is considerably higher than minimum wage or PTO rate -- is another argument for another day...

it is, in fact, illegal - sm

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en employer cannot engage an employee to sit through an 8-hour shift for four hours of work. That is wage theft. Similarly, if it takes 10 hours to make minmum wage based on an 8-hour shift, that is also wage theft. Production pay is based on the idea that there is a constant stream of pieces to produce. No one gets paid when they are not producing lines - on OR off the clock.

not getting paid for waiting - TiredMT

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Thanks or posting this. I was dumb enough to wait 10 minutes or so a few times today. Nothing but wasted time I never even thought about how it reduces my hourly rate. Stupid that they try to hold us to that practice anyways when we are paid by the work we do. I don't understand that either.

Anyways, thanks for posting this. I feel so dumb sitting there waiting for the work like I did. Not going to do it next time.

I am tired of all this. MTs is not at all what it used to be. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, look out here comes their next trick!

illegal - truth

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I have been reading the posts the last couple of days and I want to let your know what your Team leaders and Nuance/Transcend is asking us to do is illegal and you can report it to your state labor board. An employee must make at least minimum wage and asking employees to modify their time card so they will not show what they really worked is against the wage and labor law. We need to take a stand not only for ourselves but for others. I personally have asked for an investigation into my wages and I am moving forward with a lawyer for past wages. Good luck but yes it is against the law...

punching in and out - FloridaMT

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Right there with the rest of you who punch out when you run out of work and don't wait 15 minutes. To us, time is money and every 15 minutes adds up. If you do that 4 times a day, leaving yourself punched and on the clock with no work, that's an hour of time that you were punched in and not working. I for one, am not going to do that. Why screw yourself out of that time when it is beyond our control. Just sayin!

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